Inside the daring mission to rescue a U.S. airman downed in Iran
Inside the daring mission to rescue a U.S. airman downed in Iran
James LaPortaMon, April 6, 2026 at 2:00 AM UTC
0
(In this image provided by Sepahnews, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard's official website, wreckage is shown at what Iran's state TV claimed was the site of a downed American transport plane and two helicopters involved in a rescue operation, in Isfahan pro)
An American Air Force colonel who was forced to eject from an F-15E fighter jet over southwest Iran survived nearly two days behind enemy lines, sheltering in a rocky mountain crevice as U.S. forces mounted an urgent and high-risk effort to rescue the airman before armed Iranian forces could find him, according to multiple officials familiar with the complex and perilous rescue.
The recovery of the downed airman unfolded against the backdrop of escalating tensions between Washington and Tehran over the Strait of Hormuz, a critical channel for global oil trade. President Trump halted other planned U.S. military operations against Iran, redirecting attention and resources in a herculean U.S. government effort toward locating and extracting the stranded American service member, multiple sources told CBS News.
Dozens of special operations forces and aircraft were assigned to the effort, zeroing in on the stranded crew member's beacon and eventually bringing him to safety in broad daylight Sunday morning local time.
Here's the timeline leading up to the crash and the rescue. The following reporting is based on conversations with multiple officials familiar with the historic search and rescue mission.
Advertisement
See the full reporting here.
Lawmakers react to White House's massive defense spending proposal
Military archbishop says Iran war is "compensating for a threat" before the threat is realized
Signs of compassion from a deaf first-grader's classmates
Source: “AOL Money”
